Best Of David Essex, The - David Essex

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Weak
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Includes his top selling hits .
Disadvantages:	They are the only good ones .

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

David Essex, born David Cook, in 1947, has enjoyed a varied career over the last 35 years. He has acted both on stage and in films and television and has many a successful song in the charts.

Over the years he has twenty three hits to get into the top 30. He currently has a song in the charts, though I doubt it will make it far due to lack of air play. This song came about as part of a Channel 4 documentary, which attempted to bring back the Christmas number One.

He has quite a following, of all ages, and still continues to tour. These days he only sells his records via his website and at the concerts, but previous releases can be found in good music shops.

One of these is the CD, The Best of David Essex. It has been in my possession for many years. How it came to be I cannot say. My mum is a huge fan, to say the least and when he was touring locally my company was always requested as she didn't want to go alone. I have always enjoyed his music although I find his earlier music better. This Album was released in 1996 by Sony Music. It covers tracks from his early days through to the time it was released. It is called the 'Best of' though I am not totally sure I agree with that.

The Cd consists of sixteen tracks. There is quite a variety. Some slow ballads and some rock. Personally I prefer the later but I am sure die hard fans will not agree. Although this CD is entitled the Best Of, the songs mainly consist, if not all, from the early to mid 70's when David was being managed by Jeff Wayne. Therefore I think the title is a little misleading and I guess I fell for it too as not all the songs are to my taste. In fact some bore the pants off me!

The tracks start well. *Hold me close* is the opening song, and followed by *Rock on* (which was his first song) and *Gonna make you a Star*. All were hits and the first and last even made it to number one in the charts. Those two are very upbeat with catchy tunes and probably what led to their success. Rock On is very different. Firstly, David wrote this himself. Then, when David first sang it he accompanied himself only with a waste bin. Jeff liked this very much so the final recording was simply David singing with a background from bass Herbie Flowers. Despite this it is a good song and one I have grown to like.

Next is *If I could* I have never really got on with this song. It is too slow for me, and just as it seems to get going it all slows down again. But it also happens to be my mum's favourite, so all down to taste. *Lamplight* was his second single. I like the music on this track, which makes it more appealing. Again this hit got into to the top 10, but David had had his very short spell of number ones.

The next few tracks, *Coming Home*, *Cool Out Tonight* *Bring in the Sun* *For Emily, Whenever I may find her* *Rolling stone* *City Lights* and *On and On* are not so well known and in my opinion not as good, though I do feel help they bring out his bubbly and friendly personality better. His voice seems stronger in them too. I do like the chorus in Rolling Stone but feel the rest of the song lets it down.

has a great chorus to it, but I feel that the rest of the song lets it down badly. However, I guess it does earn its' place on the best of album for that reason.

*America* *Turn Me Loose* Good Ol' Rock and Roll and Roll* the next three tracks have a little more kick to them. Turn Me Loose is in fact nothing like any of the others and has more of an Elvis style to it. The last of those has some short attempts at heavy rock but again only in the chorus.

The last track *Stardust* is much better known, and comes from the film of the same name that David starred in and was a sequel to that'll be the day. Another hit in the top 10, but sadly not for me.

*~*~* My Verdict*~*~*

This compilation just doesn't do it for me. It has a great start but then it all goes downhill. I prefer much faster rhythmic songs and this just doesn't seem to do it. I know David has produced some much better songs, so feel that they should really be on this Cd. I know there have been other Cds produced featuring the best of so if you are a real fan these may be better to go for.

Of course this is just my thoughts. There is definitely a huge Jeff Wayne influence in these tunes, so if you are a big fan of the music from war of the Worlds then this is probably right up your street. As for me I think I shall put this back in my dusty CD collection, or better still pass it on to my mum who will almost certainly appreciate it a lot more than me.

I would suggest if you are a fan and want a collection of his songs, to visit the website for a more recent album with a much better variety of tracks. However if this is really what you are after a quick search reveals you can ourchase it for just 99p on Ebay.